Slag-ballast machine



(No Model.)

J. OWEN. SLAG BALLAST MAOHINEI No. 542,446. Patented Ju 1y 9,'1895.

Q MW SSQSI llNtTED STATES JOHN OlVEN, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

SLAG-BALLAST MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 542,446, dated July 9, 1895. Application filed September 21, 1394. Serial No. 523,729. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN OWEN, a citizen of the United-States, residing at Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Slag-Ballast Machines or Hot- Metal Conveyors; and I do hereby declare the followingto be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to an improved slagballast machine or hot-metal conveyor; and it consists in certain details of construction and combination of parts, as will be fully described hereinafter.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved slag ballast or hot-metal conveyer, partly in section, showing the same broken away in the middle. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same. Fig. 3 is a front elevation of a portion of the apparatus for breaking the ballast into small pieces. Fig. 4 is abroken detailed view disclosing more especiallythe piston-rod connection with the crank-shaft of the slag-breaking device.

To put my invention into practice I provide a frame of any desired'length and hav-- ing top rails 1 and bottom rails 2 for the purpose of supporting the endless conveyer hereinafter described. This frame in practice would be from fifty to several hundred feet in length to suit the location and circumstances and is properly braced by timbers 3 in a manner well known in the art. Mounted at each end of this frame upon suitable shafts 5 are large wheels 4, over which an endless conveyer is arranged. This conveyer consists of a series of plates v6 with narrow side flanges 6, connected the one with the other by means of hinged joints 7 in such a manner that acontinuous shallow trough is formed the entire length of the apparatus.

Fitted at the front end of the apparatus on the shaft 5 is a large toothed wheel 11, which meshes with a pinion 10, mounted upon a shaft 9, to which a suitable power is applied. By

means of this last-described gearing the endless conveyer may be given a movement in the direction of its length.

To properly-support the plates of the con veyer, a series of friction wheels or rollers 8 are arranged beneath the same, which travel along the rails 1 and 2 and keep the plates upon the same levelQ Arranged at the rear of the conveyor is a device for breaking the ballast when the same reaches that point, which consists in a steamcylinder 17, fitted with a piston and rod 21, to which are rigidly connected the rods 18 of a breaker l9, and by which said rods are given a reciprocating motion.

Arranged at the discharge end of the conveyer is a chute 12,1eading to a vertical conveyer 13, adapted to receive the broken slag and discharge the same into a bin or hopper 14., from which the ballast may be easily loaded into railway-cars beneath.

The conveyor 13 is operated by means of a belt connection 15, leading from the-pulley 1S,

turned by and secured on the cranked shaft.

18 which is rotated by the piston-rod 21, provided with a slotted cross-head 22, in which slides a block 23, embracing the cranked shaft.

(See Fig. 4.)

In operation a stop 24. is arranged at the re.- ceiving end of the conveyers 6 and another 25 some distance in the front of the first, and the molten slag from the blast-furnace conducted by means of a suitable duct and discharged into the pans and permitted to flow evenly over the surface to a certain thickness. The conveyer 6 is now put in motion by means of the power applied to the shaft 9 and the slag conducted toward the breaking device 19 and another stop 24 arranged in position and the same operation repeated. By this time the first cast has become cooled, and in passing beneath the breaker 19 is broken into small cubes and discharged into the conveyer 13 and from there to the bin or hopper 14, to be used as ballast for railways, concrete, or in the place of broken stone.

It is obvious that this conveyor may be used to convey hot or molten metal from the furnace, if it is so desired.

Havingthus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The herein described apparatus formanufacturing ballast, consisting of the frame of a suitable length, having rails at the top and ICC IO suitable bins, all arranged and combined for service, substantially as and for the purpose described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I hereunto affix my signature this 12th day of April, A. D. 1894.

JOHN OWEN. [n.s] In presence of i P. B. REILLY, M. E. HARRISON. 

